Contract position: 35 hours per week, three-year contract (renewable annually)
Salary range: $68,000 – $75,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Location: This position is remote, so applicants from anywhere in BC are welcome.
Contact: Please send your cover letter and resume to [email protected]. Applications without cover letters will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
Application deadline: March 19, 2021, 5:00 PM Pacific time
Start date: April 2021
About the Project:
This new, three-year project, funded by the Law Foundation of BC and a BC-based family foundation, will create and implement a provincial Bad Date and Aggressor Reporting (BDAR) system in BC, which will be the first geographically-linked BDAR system in Canada. The project involves engaging sex workers and stakeholders from across BC in increasing violence prevention and response work, holding province-wide community consultations on the pervasiveness and extent of violence against sex workers, and conducting research to inform the legal education and law reform necessary to ensure uptake, usage and response to both the BDAR system and interlinked justice and support systems. The creation of the provincial BDAR system will be a catalyst for systemic change among law enforcement, those engaged in harm reduction and gender-based violence prevention and response work, politicians, policymakers and funders. This project and the networks it develops will lay the groundwork for a more coherent legal, policy and service approach to violence against sex workers across BC.
Five sex work support and service organizations in BC have come together as a working group to secure the funding for this project: PACE Society, Peers Victoria, Living in Community, SWAN Vancouver, and WISH Drop-In Centre Society. This contract position will be administered through WISH, but the Project Coordinator will report to the working group organizations as a whole.
About You
You are a dynamic leader with proven community development experience and ability to manage and administer complex, large-scale projects. You are an intersectional feminist working through an anti-oppressive, decolonial lens with a broad understanding of issues facing equity-seeking groups. You have lived experience with sex work and/or have a strong history of working in solidarity with a broad diversity of sex workers.
Project Coordinator Roles and Responsibilities
The Project Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that the main objectives and activities of the project are carried out, under the collaborative direction of the working group organizations:
Multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration:
● Build and maintain collaborative relationships with sex work support organizations, sex workers, community organizations, service providers, and other stakeholders across the province
● Lead education and consultation activities with provincial stakeholders:
○ Lead the design and implementation of educational sessions for sex workers and sex work support and advocacy organizations across BC to increase understanding of bad date reporting
○ Lead the design and implementation of consultation sessions with sex workers and sex work support and advocacy organizations across BC to gather input into designing and using the provincial BDAR system
● Facilitate and lead meetings:
○ Facilitate project working group meetings
○ With project’s Research Lead, prepare information for presentations at stakeholder meetings and consultations
○ Support consistent and effective working relationships between participants to ensure effective functioning of groups and meetings
○ Ensure the inclusion of diverse voices and perspectives
Advocacy and Policy Engagement:
● Work with the project’s Research Lead to synthesize key knowledge emerging from stakeholders, research, and existing BDAR practices to support policy development and advocacy
● Lead sessions with stakeholders on the effective use of the BDAR tool and on how they can advocate for its use
● Advocate to policy makers and provincial elected officials for sustained funding of the provincial BDAR tool
● Develop relationships with sex workers, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders to further implement strategic actions
● Build support for the adoption, implementation, and commitment to policies in community organizations and government that support the health and safety of sex workers
Administration:
● Manage project budget
● Oversee hiring and supervision of project Research Lead
● Work collaboratively with other project staff, stakeholders, and contractors
● Report to working group about project timelines and deliverables
● Write project and funding reports as required by the funder
Required Qualifications
● Minimum of 6 years experience managing community-driven projects with multiple stakeholders, or demonstrably comparable combination of skills and experience
● Advanced knowledge of services and supports for people who sell or trade sex in BC
● Experience working in the area of sexualized violence, including understanding and adhering to a sex workers’ rights-based approach
● Familiarity with systems change approaches and/or collaborative stakeholder engagement activities
● Excellent ability to build effective, professional relationships and networks with diverse stakeholders with diverse viewpoints
● Strong facilitation skills, including an ability to reconcile conflict and differing perspectives, develop consensus and secure cooperation among internal and external stakeholders
● Ability to work and deliver/report measurable outputs both independently with minimal supervision, and as part of a team
● Strong research, analysis, and writing skills including the ability to translate technical writing (research, information management, policy) to a range of audiences
● Ability to manage a budget, write funder reports and evaluate program effectiveness
● Ability to plan and organize effectively
Preferred Qualifications:
Graduate degree related to social and legal policy, and/or a combination of experience and education in a related field, such as social work, gender studies, public health, social sciences.
For this position, we are open to candidates who are early in their careers as well as those with decades of experience. BIPOC individuals, people with sex work experience and expertise, and people of all genders, identities, ethnicities/ cultures /races and abilities are welcome and encouraged to apply